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Consumer ethical beliefs and personality traits: An exploratory analysis

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Abstract

The present study examines the relationships between consumers' ethical beliefs and personality traits. Based on a survey of 295 undergraduate business students, the authors found that individuals with high needs for autonomy, innovation, and aggression, as well as individuals with a high propensity for taking risks tend to have “less ethical” beliefs concerning possible consumer actions. Individuals with a high need for social desirability and individuals with a strong problem solving coping style tend to have “more ethical” beliefs concerning possible consumer actions. The needs for achievement, affiliation, complexity and an emotion solving coping style were not significantly correlated with consumer ethical beliefs.

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Kumar C. Rallapalli is a Ph.D. candidate in Marketing. His research has been accepted to be published in theJournal of Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management, and has appeared in various national and regional proceedings. His research interests include marketing ethics, healthcare marketing, international marketing and direct marketing.

Scott J. Vitell is Associate Professor of Marketing and holder of the Michael S. Starnes Lectureship in Marketing and Business Ethics at the University of Mississippi. His work has previously appeared in theJournal of Macromarketing, theJournal of Business Ethics, Research in Marketing, theBusiness and Professional Ethics Journal and theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science as well as various other journals and proceedings.

Frank A. Wiebe is Associate Professor of Management at the University of Mississippi. His research has appeared in theInternational Journal of Management, Psychological Report, Advances in Industrial Organizational Psychology, theInternational Journal of Value Based Management and theJournal of Organizational Change Management.

James H. Barnes is Associate Professor of Marketing and Pharmacy Administration and holder of the Morris Lewis, Jr. Lectureship in Marketing at the University of Mississippi. His research has previously appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research as well as other journals and proceedings.

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Rallapalli, K.C., Vitell, S.J., Wiebe, F.A. et al. Consumer ethical beliefs and personality traits: An exploratory analysis. J Bus Ethics 13, 487–495 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00881294

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